Wireless or Personal Communication Service (PCS) providers have been, until recently, able to store and maintain subscriber information and current location data on only one home location register (HLR). However, due to the escalating number of subscribers and the rapid expansion of the wireless (PCS) communications networks, it has become necessary to employ multiple home location registers to accommodate the growth.
By using multiple home location registers in the wireless communications network, it becomes necessary to devise a system and method to route the query messages and location updates to the proper home location register. A proposed solution is to provide a database in the service control point (SCP) in the telecommunications network, which maintains routing information. However, a serious drawback with this solution is the additional traffic it may cause in the signaling system no. 7 (SS7) network by routing these additional queries from the mobile switching centers (MSCs) to the service transfer points (STPs) and then to the service control point. These queries add to the existing signaling traffic that accomplish toll-free calling, number portability, and other global title translation (GTT) queries to provide services such as line information database (LIDB) services, switch based services (SBS) such as certain Bellcore's CLASS® services, calling name (CNAM) delivery, and interswitch voice messaging (ISVM). Due to the anticipated large overall query volume, the SS7 link set between the service control point and signal transfer point becomes a troublesome bottleneck, creating a potentially substantial negative impact to the network's ability to route calls and provide services.